The invention relates to a transportation pallet with at least two longitudinal members and at least two transverse members perpendicular thereto and terminally connected thereto.
In particular for the manufacture of pallets, the invention relates to a hollow metal profile, whose cross-section is substantially U-shaped and has an upper supporting wall, to which a first side wall is connected to a first (left) side and a second side wall is connected to a second (right) side substantially at right angles.
Pallets are used to a great extent throughout the world for the transportation and storage in particular of stackable piece goods. They are essentially used for facilitating the handlability of piece goods, e.g. by means of fork lifts in that a spacing is created between the stack of piece goods and the ground which permits raising to take place. Pallets are manufactured in numerous different sizes and are conventionally formed from wooden parts in the form of planks and blocks, which are joined together by clips or nails.
The known wooden pallets suffer from a number of disadvantages. As a result of the significant stressing in use, e.g. through being struck by fork lifts, pieces of wood easily break off, so that the pallet stability is impaired. Even slight damage leads to the formation of wood splinters, which can make handling by workers dangerous. In addition, conventional wooden pallets have a significant weight, so that there are considerable extra freight charges for numerous uses. Particularly in the case of air freight or overseas dispatches costs are increased by the fact that pallets of a conventional nature are not generally returned, because the transportation costs would exceed the manufacturing costs.
Moreover pallets which are frequently damaged on the way to the recipient are usually destroyed at the destination, which is highly prejudicial to the environment.